﻿Govt forgets KCR as commuters continue to suffer

Karachi: The provincial government of Sindh which is main stakeholder in revival of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) has been continuing its delaying tactics on this vital project, a lifeline of Karachi economy, while the commuters of this largest city of Pakistan suffer silently.

Sources privy to the matters related to KCR revival say that the provincial government has practically abandoned the KCR revival ; however, for the consumption of media and public, especially Karachiites, officials give some vague statements time to time about initiating ‘early’ work on the KCR.

The sources said the government is spending millions on salaries and other perks of the officials of Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC); however, the outcome is practically zero. It is still not clear that the project would be initiated with the assistance of Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) or with the help of some Chinese investors.

They said the official quarters are insisting on foreign loan components and involving foreign companies, despite the fact that this project could be easily executed with the help of Pakistan Railways, with local resources, workforce and technology, as all it needs is to remove encroachments, replace broken tracks and signal system and repair of damaged local trains stations and other infrastructure, before running local trains on the existing KCR loop, and main track between Landhi and City Station.

Early revival of KCR would greatly boost the local economy and reduce traffic load on roads which witness crippling traffic jams every day. It would also help in improving the soft urban image of the city. However, it needs change in priorities of the provincial government of Sindh as without its willingness this vital project cannot go ahead.